Get this review right, Mr Denham, and you get a hug

It was poetry to my ears that John Denham recognised that meeting regional demands for HE, building close links with industry and widening access are as important as having top research institutions, says Ruth Farwell

I could have hugged John Denham, secretary of state for Innovation, Universities and Skills, when he announced that he was commissioning a review on the future of higher education as a precursor to the 2009 review of top-up fees. He instantly became my hero as he described to delegates at the Universities UK spring conference his vision of a sector in 15 years time with a diverse range of institutions to meet an increasingly diverse set of demands. He foresaw a future HE world in which the different strengths of different types of institutions were equally valued.

As he went on to describe the areas that he wanted the review to focus on, it seemed as though he had secretly spent a day at my university - the newest in the UK - and this had inspired the key themes of his speech. It was poetry to my ears that he recognised that meeting regional demands for HE, building close links with industry, delivering high-quality teaching, widening access, and encouraging innovation, are as important as having top research institutions. He seemed to be saying that the question about what universities should be investing in should not be dominated by what it takes to fund research of a certain kind.

Now the initial excitement of that announcement has passed, however, my warm feelings have started to cool.

I was not there to hear the minister's speech, as I am not a member of UUK but of GuildHE, the body that represents small- to medium-sized universities and specialist institutions. I suspect GuildHE members were an afterthought on the invitation list. Certainly by the time I received mine, I was otherwise engaged.

I am now beginning to wonder whether, despite the minister's rhetoric on the importance of diversity in HE, GuildHE institutions may similarly be an afterthought in the consultation process of the review. Denham has yet to indicate that he plans to include GuildHE in that process, a fact that seems worryingly out of step with many of the key themes of his speech.

I hope the minister will correct this oversight. If he fails to do so, he runs the risk of the review being dominated by those who represent a more old-fashioned view of HE. He must surely recognise that maintaining a diverse HE system, excellent teaching, industry links, wider access and innovation are all core business for forward-thinking institutions like mine.

I expect many people have preconceived ideas about a university based in what they think of as a leafy bucolic environment. They would probably be surprised by our mix of students.

Our main campus is in High Wycombe, the Tory constituency with the largest number of Muslim voters. We recruit locally, and consistently beat our widening participation benchmarks. And we are not just successful at recruiting students from areas of low participation, we retain them too: 92% of young students from local wards with low participation complete or progress with us each year. This is a much better picture than the national retention figures published recently.

In percentage terms, we have almost double the national average of students aged 30 or over, and in the six years since 1999, our percentage increased, whereas the national average didn't. A lot of this is the result of our push into work-based learning.

It is interesting that Denham notes warning signs from employers about graduates and their lack of readiness for employment, and complaints that universities do not teach the links between developing innovative ideas and converting them into commercial successes.

Our courses are unashamedly applied in nature, and are designed to prepare students well for their future careers. Developing enterprise skills and business acumen is second nature to us. To provide our students with state-of-the-art facilities, we have just signed a ground-breaking partnership agreement with hi-tech companies HP and Cisco.

Universities like mine are filling regional gaps in HE and contributing to social cohesion in the area. Take the University of Cumbria, for example: it is delivering "higher education in one of the most isolated and deprived areas in England", to quote a recent paper on the expansion of local and regional HE published by Denham's department.

Institutions like mine should be at the heart of Denham's HE review. If the minister is unconvinced, I urge him to visit Buckinghamshire New University and see for himself. If he does, I promise him a warm welcome - and maybe even a hug.

· Dr Ruth Farwell is the vice-chancellor of Buckinghamshire New University